Mr. Avinash Saurabh, co-founder of Zoojoo.BE, a corporate health and wellness start-up, was invited by IMT Hyderabad to share his valuable insights with students earlier this month.
After completing his B.Tech from Sikkim Manipal University in 2007 and while pursuing his job, he started wondering purpose about the purpose of his education - was it just to get a job or to do something beyond. And self-realisation made him quit his job and kick start his dream project, Zoojoo.BE, which got incubated in the prestigious IIM Bangalore incubation program.
Within a matter of time, the start-up was funded by a reputed Venture Capital Firm.
Zoojoo.BE has a unique mission to measurably improve the happiness in the world. For this purpose, it focuses on inculcating within people habits that have a positive effect on happiness. One healthy habit is measured by one unit of happiness. Many a times it is a guilt that motivates people to do well, which may not be the right approach. Instead, a significant change in daily habits is a key to happiness, which is sadly lacking among the people. Zoojoo.BE helps people to be more productive, energetic, less stressed and healthier. Zoojoo.BE has over 2.2 lakh employees across 7 countries.
He invited students of IMT on the dais and asked them to share any start-up ideas which they may have. The students came up with some ideas related to improving the learning experience in Schools, Career Guidance for Students and a unique Food start-up focusing upon displaying the number of calories according to the intake, to help people control their diet. All three students were then taken through a value proposition canvas, and were asked to identify the customer, evaluate the 'pain' and the 'gain' of the customer, followed by 'pain-relievers' and 'value mapping'.
Mr. Avinash went on to say that identifying the customer and understanding why they are going to buy the potential product is very essential in a start-up. He also emphasised on customer analysis, saying that it is far more important than competitor analysis. He also mentioned that validating all the assumptions made is very essential, and this can be best done by interacting with the customers. He then went on to explain how to acquire and retain customers, by explaining concepts like 'product market fit', 'go to market fit' and 'business model fit'.
He also spoke about facing one's fears through self-awareness. He said, "Recursive improvement is the key to success, and this can happen through self-awareness and contemplation".
Thought provoking insights and the details of how to work on a new venture, shared by him surely made quite an impact in many minds with entrepreneurial ideas.